As a job seeker, it can be difficult to find opportunities on your own. But that’s where recruiting specialists, also known as headhunters, come into the picture.
Headhunters act as recruiting agents that work on a contractual basis to help client companies find top candidates to fill up crucial job positions. These headhunters simultaneously also support skilled individuals to find the right opportunity, even if the person is already employed.
In this article, we will tell you how to find the right headhunter for yourself and how to connect with them to find your dream job.
How to Find a Headhunter Who Actually Finds You a Job?
Having a professional with all the knowledge and information on how to find the best jobs in the market is a blessing. And to be able to track down these individuals, you need to look them up on the right platforms.
Use a Directory
The internet offers a variety of online directories, and job sites, that help find the right firm or individual headhunters and recruiting specialists.
These directories will also be able to filter the headhunters nearest to you based on your geographic location on the map, your field of work, and your specialization.
It allows you to have direct access to several headhunters that specifically work to support your requirement. Recruiter.com is a good online recruitment directory that can be accessed by anyone looking for recruiting agents.
Use Social Media
Social media has become the go-to option for several job seekers on the lookout for a headhunter that will finally land them a job interview. Networking and connecting on platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook are good bets.
A mere search with keywords such as ‘looking for job recruiters’ or ‘headhunter wanted’ would open several hundreds of profiles of agency recruiters to connect to.
Use Google
You can also restore to the basics and simply type in your requirement on Google. For example, by searching ‘staffing agency in Brooklyn,’ you will have to access several result pages on your screen.
You could also be more specific in terms of the industry that you’d want the headhunter to be a specialist in and add that to simple keywords such as ‘agency recruiter for graphic designers’ or ‘staffing agencies for technical sales’.
Use High Profile Publications or Blogs
Nowadays, online and media presence is everything. Headhunters and recruiting firms have started creating online content to lure in potential clients.
Professional headhunters and search firms plan on enlarging their network through online publication platforms such as High Profile Staffing, Executive Recruiter, and recruitment magazines such as The Global Recruiter, Onrec, etc, for professional benefits.
These professionals have a following based on their content online and through print media. If you are one of their followers or read their magazine columns, you’ll also be able to relate with them.
Many times high-profile publications and magazines also enlist the best recruiting agencies and rank them in their order of popularity. You can easily access such lists and look up the listed search firms to find the perfect match.
Based on the best fits, you could find the job listings posted by these executive recruiters and find the right opportunity for a specific company.
Use a Career Finder Service
Several companies are now acting as corporate recruiters and offering recruitment-related support to job seekers. A hiring company works as a mediator between you and the organization.
They’ll help you find relevant opportunities, fill out the application forms on your behalf, and even guide you through the interview process to help you get the job of your choice.
Their main role is to find qualified candidates and connect them to potential employers.
Ask for Recommendations
Taking help from your network is also a good way of finding the right professional recruiter to help you. It is easier to rely on a professional’s services that are tried and tested by someone in your network.
You can also take this up with your virtual networks on social media platforms such as LinkedIn and ask them for open positions in their companies. In such cases, chances are a good recruiter will reach you before you can contact them.
It is also crucial to create a solid profile on platforms such as LinkedIn and describe your professional experience.
Get the recommendations added by your peers and seniors, and have an apt summary in the profile to attract the right recruiter to contact you directly.
Check out all the Job boards and search for opportunities in your space
You can look up opportunities using google search or through online job boards on organizations’ social media accounts. Several employers follow the hiring process by looking for candidates on job board sites.
Now, you must check if a job posting has been made by a professional recruiter. On job board sites such as ZipRecruiter, and Googleplex, companies hire recruiters to post jobs.
These recruiters can be recognized easily with job titles such as staffing agent, headhunter, search professional, etc. If a specific recruiter posts jobs that interest you, you must reach out to them directly or the organization they’re supporting.
Start by asking current colleagues and former co-workers with similar backgrounds
Remember to go back to your colleagues, peers, hiring managers, and former co-workers for leads on any professional recruiters or recruiting agency they may have taken help.
With experience in the same industry, it is beneficial to reach out to people with similar backgrounds. It helps avoid any recruiting experts that may not understand your requirement.
Search LinkedIn to find recruiters that specialize in placing people in your field
Using keywords on platforms such as LinkedIn always helps find recruitment agencies or recruiters that work on contracts. If you want to find a recruiter for a specific industry, you can simply type in the keywords on LinkedIn, and you’ll be taken to a search result page showing many names in your vicinity that could help you find a new job.
Look at the recruiter’s activity on LinkedIn
Giving a careful look to a recruiter’s page on LinkedIn can also tell which professional headhunter they are connected to. This way, you could reach out to those headhunters to get placed in a company of your choice.
What to look for in a recruiter before hiring them to Help you With a Job Search
Here’s a list of things you’ll need to remember before you find the best recruiter to get you a new job:
- Check if the recruiter has been with the same firm for a reasonable amount of time or if they seem to jump around a lot
It is essential to understand whether a recruiter is connected to an organization for a long time or if they’ve joined them recently. It helps avoid any expectations from these recruiters. Also, if you’re specifically to work with a brand, it would be best if you can find any long-term internal recruiters to be your go-to person.
- Is the recruiter an expert in one or two areas and have they been doing it for a long time
To check if the recruiter is a specialist in a field, or has knowledge of more than one industry, check for keywords relating to the industry on their LinkedIn profile. See if they’ve posted any job openings that relate to your requirement.
Also, you can check their LinkedIn bio to find more about their overall experience, and if there are any recommendations or a verified badge on their listed skills.
- Are they connected with a fair amount of human resources and high-level professionals in your area of expertise?
While going through their Linkedin or other social media profile, you will also be able to see their connections. You must know whom all your potential recruiters have added to their network.
Learn about their relationships with important human resource professionals that may come in handy while applying for the best job openings.
- Search to find out if the recruiter has a website
If the recruiter has a professional website for clients or a personal blog they use to create content, it is easier to understand and connect with them based on the information they share online, or any job postings they’ve made recently. It helps confirm any doubts if the recruiter will be a good match for you and if they can help you find a job or not.
- Email a résumé to the recruiter and judge their response
Sending your resume to a potential recruiter will help you take the first step toward deciding whether this professional is going to be the one for you or not. If they respond with a personal message or reach out directly, you should know that this is how they’ll treat you in the future too.
Automated, robotic responses can make you feel as if you’re not the only one and can end up creating zero job opportunities for you.
- Does this person have a proven track record of success
Checking if the recruiter has a proven success rate in helping people find the right job opportunities for themselves is very crucial. You do not want to be involved with a professional who doesn’t help you but still charges you for the guidance and job leads provided.
How to Connect with Recruiters?
After you’ve realized what to check before hiring a job recruiter, here’s what you’ll need to do to connect with the right recruiters:
- Connecting with people who act as sources for the recruiters must be on your connect-with list before trying to reach the main recruiter. It helps increase your chances of being picked and sent to these recruiters as good potential candidates. Such sources can be found on LinkedIn easily, some even act as influencers on the platform.
- As a direct approach method, you can connect with recruiters by sending them a resume through the InMail option, even if they are not in your connections. This is a possible approach for premium users.
- For free Linkedin account users, you can only connect with them by sending a message using the Connect button on their profile. You could also follow them once you have sent a message stating your request.
Always remember that recruiters are busy professionals and may not respond to your message unless you say the right things. In your personalized messages, ensure that you appreciate them taking the time to read your message.
Ask any mutual connections to help you by referring you to the recruiter after you have sent a message.
How to Talk to Recruiters to Get What You Want?
- Ensure that you do your share of research about the recruiter and the companies they’re aligned with to understand how helpful they can be. It includes checking the company profile they support, understanding their culture, and the kind of salary packages offered for that job title in the job market.
- First impressions are crucial. To get a recruiter to help you, make sure you are your best self when discussing the plans with them. Your manners, how you present yourself, bad interview performances, unreturned calls, and messages, can be a big turn-off for them to help you further. Assist them by providing all prerequisites to fill that job position.
- It is always considered a good idea to be honest and straightforward about your requirements when talking to a recruiter. It allows them to be straight up, giving all information you’ll need to know before applying for the job.
How to Use Your Experience with Recruiters to Improve Your Job Search?
To make a good connection with a recruiter to land a good job position, follow the below guide:
- Share information carefully and keep the conversation to the point. You don’t want to share anything that is irrelevant to the discussion or the topic.
- Flexibility is good under limits. However, showing that you are flexible in all circumstances can make the recruiters see through your desperation for a job. This could also mean that you would go for anything or settle for less than what you expect easily. The same applies to salary negotiations.
- Be sure of the questions you want to ask. You can ask about the roles and responsibilities for the job position offered to you, who you’d be working with, what could be the potential challenges and more.
- You should always fact-check anything that the recruiter informs you about by going on professional websites such as Glassdoor, and Linkedin to see what the ex-employees had to say about the company.
Should you apply directly or through a recruiter?
Siding with one here would be unfair to the other. Applying directly has its advantages and disadvantages which is the case with applying through recruiters too.
While the former allows you to avoid any chances of miscommunication, the latter could get you great job opportunities while also preparing you to get selected for the same.
While applying yourself may help you avoid any pushy behavior from the middleman, a recruiter can help fight on your behalf with the hiring manager on your employment terms or salary negotiations.
The list is long, and in the end, you’ll end up confused. There is no one way to find an eventual opportunity. Some do it through the direct application while others achieve it with the help of a recruiter.
The important thing to remember is if either option of finding employment gets you a job of your choice, the means to it only matter so much.